Entries Tagged ‘successful living’

In sports its been my hardest task to lose gracefully. In close contests I wanted to be the one to take the last shot or be up to bat with the game on the line because I knew how much coming through meant to me, and wasn’t always sure of others.

Am I connecting to some of you?

In business situations this can be a help in not giving up in hard times. It can also lead to conflict when someone on the other side of a negotiation gets into a win/lose attitude rather than a win/ win attitude.

And in my marriage, my avoiding conflict until backed into a corner then coming out with guns blazing to WIN was a dysfunctional pairing of attributes. Rather than building up my wife I was tearing her down. I was supposed to love her like Christ loved the church, who gave Himself up for her that He might present her spotless and blameless before God. I used that with my daughters dates, but didn’t always live it out in day to day life. Probably still don’ do this as good as I should.

So I do hate to Lose.

Unfortunately for me, that’s not how God feels.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

The Kingdom principle is that its the losers who are the winners!

So much of what I read in the Bible could be changed out with Loser. God loves a cheerful giver (loser); The poor in spirit (losers) will inherit the Kingdom of God; Love your wife like Jesus loved the church who gave His life (loser); ……You can probably give a bigger list.

But this LOSER is someone who is willing to Lose his own rights to benefit others, to exhibit sacrificial love for others, to build others up, to bring glory to God.

So I’m trying to learn the Kingdom principle that Loser is the new Winner because in God’s Kingdom is the ultimate fulfillment of the old saying. “He who laughs last laughs best!”

Wikipedia definition- The attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought…

Its a fancy word for the “Frog in a Kettle” concept. Many of us have heard this before. How do you boil a live frog? Put him in a kettle of cold water and slowly raise the temp. He just sits there as the temp goes up and boils to death.

This is how the evangelical Christian church has slowly lost its savor in this country. Research by Barna and Gallup suggests that the statistics of “bad behavior” doesn’t differ much between the general public and the evangelical church. Divorce rates, infidelity, pornography etc……

What’s up?

The Bible tells us to not be conformed to the world. So I guess Sync has been happening a long time!

In the world of technology sync is used to mean when 2 databases are conformed into identical copies of each other. What is good for databases stinks for Committed Christians. When business people are Synced we call this operating like Babylon, where money is the only “good” and integrity, loyalty, and service take a back seat.

So if Sync Stinks, what is the answer?

Well, we may not like the answer- The Bible says to let our minds dwell on what is good, to protect our eyes and ears, to not love the World but instead set our eyes on Jesus, and set our minds on the things above.

The bottom line is the fire is getting turned up. Movies and TV are no longer safe for adults to watch much less children. Political correctness is seeping in to our churches. people don’t confront bad behavior. We were hooked on new technologies only to find they are portals to pornography and other temptations. We are too busy to read our Bibles and soak in meditating on what we read. Memorize scripture and study theology so we know principles and can use them in specific circumstances – no way, too time consuming and difficult. I am too busy.

Its not easy to get off the stove, but:

Lets read our Bibles, ask the Holy Spirit to open the meaning up like a beautiful flower after a spring rain, memorize passages so we have them at our finger tips, constantly ask the Holy Spirit to talk to us about every situation we are in and ever person we talk to, praise our heavenly Father for our blessings and hard times, hold each other accountable for bad behavior, and ask to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit:

Welcome

Everyone wants to succeed in life. Our definitions of success may vary, but some common themes pass among all of us. Love, family, peace, prosperity, health, eternal security, faith... Lets discover together the principles and choices we can use to succeed in life!